Beverage dispensing system



Oct. 12, 1943.. F. F. DAVIS 2,331,460

BEVERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM Filed Oct. 26, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I &

WWW ,L

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F250 A 0A VAS.

INVENTOR.

' Oct. 12, 1943. F. F. DAVIS I BEvERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM Filed Oct. 26, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 5

Fez-0 /-7 0,4 v/s.

IN VEN F OR;

m N m T r A WITNESS.

Oct. 12, 1943.- F. F. DAVIS BEVERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 26, 1940 \v vzlmllblanlllllllll ill/474% I N VENFOR.

'ATTOENE'KS NI TNESS- Patented Oct. 12; 1943 2,331,460: 7 I BEYEEAGE DISPENSINGSYSTENP FrediFrIlavis Newyork, N. Y5; assignor to-Davis-' Gerrish. Holding, Corporation; 1 New- IOrkHN: Yr, a corporation of New York Application .Oflloberfifi, 1940; Serial 362191? 8 CIaiIns.- (or. 225- 42) a The present; inventionrelates tonew and useful improvements-in fluid dispensing apparatus.

In: its present "embodiment; the invention- 1s illustrated as apparatus: for :dispensing beer, ale and similar charged beveragesyubut it is -to beunderstood that it has .wier fields of "application than that in which: it 2'is-hereina'presented;

Beverages of. the typessabovetmentionednare generally dispensedrat points removediwith re lation; to. thein points-ofustorage. Such-z praoticel necessitatesathe employment-:ofiapipelines, faucets 1 and other: appliances; to; .iconvey ithei beverage :to'.

the dispensing point and to contmolthe=dispensing thereofq The, character ;Ofn' the beverages; particularly beer: and iale; is: suohijas toapro'duce conditions within: the. apparatusc which :haveza :decideddeleterious. effect upon; the-beverage :thus making it necessary to resort to periodical cleansinggoicthe apparatus.

This cleaning 0f ,th'e; apparatus-,2 318L511}; is generally; practiced, requires a: complete :-.shutdown ofthe apparatus-during the'cleaning vperiod and a loss of: :beverage; as well; as. timer-accompanies each cleansing,operationewithethe .-resultthat oftenuthe apparatusis not; subjected to: thec1eans.-- ing operation as frequently as it should to maintaint. the. higheststandard otquality of the beveragedispensed. a I

Further, asngenerally; practiced, the. cleansing. operation-is "performed-by Zconcerns .whose busi ness consists solely of servicing such apparatuswhich practice entailsv awservic'ee charge, at be borneby the proprietor. I

' One object 'of thepresent invention iszitomime prove the construction and 'methodfof'cperation of-zbeverage dispensing apparatus. and so i to construct 'suchjyapparatus that; beverages such as been ale and the "like; may be dispensed the same condition in which they are supplied .in" bulk to the establishment, which'in'turn dispenses them to the public: f

A feature of the invention resides in the pro vision of a novel construction of"? apparatus whereby-the cleansing -'of--the-apparatus maybe accomplished -without w waste--01" loss -of-"anyof thetbeverage as a result of a the cleansing opera tionzs. t r

Another featureof the invention res-ides ina a novel construction- 1 of apparatus whereby the: cleansinguoperation imay be accomp-lishedby -the attendant himself These- =two features I t'onsidefr highly importantisince particularly:inthe case of -beer,=:which is, generally: stored m; kegs; they permit :of a

thorough cleansing of the apparatusaftert'the contents of a-.si.ng1e keg-has been dispense'drif' desired, thus insuringga cI'ean "'and"hig hly .sati sfactory operatingjcondition ofthe "apparatus at all times which results iril'the .dispensing'of'fthe" beverage in its original'forr'n. t v

Other features. of the inventionrelate to certain novel and improved constriictibns, arrangements' and combinations of parts hereinaftefdea scribed and particularly pointed'outin the claims;

the advantage'stof Wifichfwill"beTI'eadiIyfundr? stood" and: appreciated "by i those." skilledin. the" art:

The inventionwill" be"clearlylundetstood trom the accompanying drawings illustrating the in'-' vention in its ..preferred 'formsand the following" detail description of the constructionsftherein" shown: In thedrawings; Figure 7 1 is" a View front elevation partly broken away of 'a dispensing apparatus 1 constructed in accordance with the -present-firiven Figure-=2 is'a vertical sectional view" taken.

substantially on "the line 2 -2 oe-Figure 1,]

Figurefi is a sohemeae-viewpmiy in section andpa'rtly-ifl elevationi certain 'elements of the apparatus beingremoved; a Fi'u'r'e' 4 4's- -al=-detai-l*s'eeti bna-l view taken sub-'- stantially on the line 4-4 ofliigiire' lfithe view being on-anenlairged-calet V Figure 5 is} a detailsectidnalaview oman en-- larged -scaltaken substantially on thline'filfi eerie-urea 1 a I g Figure 6 is airagmentary sectional viewi illus trating the invention as applied tdia fimodifled form of:dispensirigiapparatusp Figure;- Tis a detail-lsectionarlv viewv-ta stan'ti'aillyl'om helinefll 'ofiFigmre'fifi. V

Fig rl'r'e fi" is a :fr'agmentary secti'onabview illin trating ia :mc sdified form bfitheinvention 'rand 1* Figure 9 isa= distendeii perspeetive vie at a portion of: theedevice/illiistratee intiFigur 1 ml that embodiment offithw inwetttlori illus trated 'in Figures l through 5,' I have *sl'ioWn'Mi' invention embodied 'iriia beverage system which: is:of somewhatathe conventionaliitypezi v t In said Figures 1 throughtit theflrefet ence character 25 :de'signatesa a cdnventional banrfixken: sub'li tune: --having the erefrig'eratiomccompartmentwa 2 61' and dispensin'gafaucetszflzF o Mounted wi-thin the:refrigeratingtscompart means 10f a pipe. lax-in which is incorporated:

ciated parts which go to make up the system are substantially the same construction, th escription of one will be deemed suflicient.

The faucets 21 may be of any desired type for the purpose, the faucets herein illustrated comprising a body portion having a valve seat 4! which is engaged by a reciprocatingvalve 42 to close the faucet and prevent discharge of fluid therefrom. The valve 42 is operated to and from a its closed position by means of a pivoted handle 43. V r

In the present embodiment of the invention, the valve 29 heretofore mentioned is incorporated directly in the faucet 21 as best illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawings.

Referring to Figures 3 and 5 of the drawings, the valve 29 includes a chamber 44 which has communication with both the faucet 2'! and the pipe 28. Beneath the chamber 44 there is a chamber 45 and this chamber has communication with the chamber 44' through a passage 46 which is defined by a valve seat 41'. Extending through the chamber 45 and the passage 46, there is a valve stem 41 the head 48 of which is positioned in the chamber 45 in position to engage the seat 41 heretofore mentioned. The valve head is held normally in engagement with the seat 41' by means of a coil spring 49 interposed between the valve head and the bottom wall of the chamber 45which latter is preferably in theform of a removable plug 50. l

The valve 48 is forced from its seat by means of a pivoted lever 5|, which. engages the upper end of the valve stem 41, which latter projects through a suitablepacking gland 52 threaded in the upper wall of the valve 29. Fromthe foregoing it will be obvious that normally, thevalve head 48 serves to cut off communication between the chambers 44 and 45.

To prevent accidental operation of the valve 29, a nut 52' may be positioned as illustrated in full lines in Figure 5, the nut 52 being capable of movement to the dotted line position shown in Figure 5 to permit ofrmovement of the valve 48 to its open position.

By reference to Figure 1, it will be noted that the chambers 45 of the several valves29 are connected by pipe 55 and that one of said chambers 45 is connected with a supply pipe 56, which latter is preferably the city water supply system.

The fitting 32 heretofore mentioned comrises a main body portion 58 having two legs 59 and 60. The leg 59 forms the means by which the fitting 32 is connected to the tank 24 by the coupling 3|, the leg 60 formingthe means by which the fitting is connected to the upper end of the refrigerating coil 30.

The top wall of the body portion is closed by means of a screw plug or the like lil which has an extension 62, the lower end of which projects into the chamber 6310f the body portion 58 of the fitting 32.

The internal diameter of the chamber 63 and that of the passage 65 through the leg 60 is greater than the diameter of the extension 62 and the passage 64 of the leg 59 and it will be noted by reference to Figure 4, that the lower end of the extension 62 is substantially on a line with the bottom of the passage 64.

Leading from the top of the draw off tank 24, there is a bleed line 10 which leads to a bleed valve 13 mounted upon the faucet 21 as best illustrated in Figure 2.

As best illustrated in Figure 4, this bleed valve 13 comprises a body portion 14 having a chamber 15 from which leads a small passage H which terminates at its outer end in a seat it. A plug 12 carries a valve 11 for engagement with the seat 16 and a relatively small rod 78 which extends through the passage H.

The plug 12 has threaded engagement with the valve body and by rotation of the plug, the valve may be opened or closed. A discharge passage 19 leads from the body of the valve 13.

The reference character 80 designates a mechanical cleaning element which in this form of the invention comprises a relatively short section of sponge rubber or similar highly compressible porous material.

In Figure 4 of the drawings, this mechanical cleaning element is illustrated in position in the chamber 63 of the fitting 32, but it is to be understood that it is bodily movable through that portion of the system between the fitting 32 and the fitting 33, to effect a cleaning thereof and the manner in which this is accomplished, will now be described.

Referring to Figures 1 through 5, we will assume that the entire system is filled with the beverage to be dispensed, the tap rod 34 extending into a keg or other container not shown, in which the beverage to be dispensed is stored under pressure.

To draw a portion of the beverage it is only necessary to rock the hand lever 43 in Figure 3 to the left and open the valve 42. It will be noted from Figure 3 that in this position of the parts and at all times while the system is filled with the beverage, the communication between the chambers 44 and 45 will be cut oil. by means of the valve 29.

Assuming now that the supply of beverage has become exhausted and it is desired to subject the system to a cleaning operation before the empty keg or container has been replaced by means of a filled one.

To accomplish this purpose the valve 43 of the draw off faucet is closed. The lock nut 52, see Figure 5, is turned down as illustrated in dotted lines, to permit of movement of the valve stem 41 to open the valve 29 by depressing the pivoted lever 5!. Since the line 55 is the line of city water under pressure, water under such pressure will be introduced into the System and fill the same from the valve 42 to the empty keg or container. As the water passes through the system under this pressure the cleaning element 80 is carried thereby through the refrigerating coil 30 removing any deposits upon the interior thereof. After the cleaning element 80 has passed through the coil, it passes to the fitting 33 which includes a screen or similar baffle which prevents entrance of the cleaning element 80 into the tap rod 34. When the water under city pressure is first introduced into the system, it passes through the pipe 28 into the draw off tank 24 by means of a pipe or nozzle 91 which projects the same, with a swirling motion, against the bottom.of thedraw off tankl k As thedrawofl. tankfl .fillswith water .thewaterlpassestthrough the fitting 32 andatthis stage picksup the.me-. chanical cleaning element 80;.moving. it.=through the system ltolthe fitting. 33 :in .the manner heretofore described.

This introduction of water under city, pressure together. with. movement -through thesystem -of themecll-anical cleaning. element 80',- has thor oughly cleaned the system in one-direction. The valve 29-is maintained in its.open position by depression bf the pivoted lever |-f0r sufilcient'. time to permit th'e necessary quantity of .-.water under city pressure passingthrough the'system and -into.the' empty keg or container toeffecta thorough cleaning" of the system.

The next step consists in relieving pressure from the pivoted -1ever 5l -and'permitting the valve .29 -to move to closed position under the influence of the'spring 49*a'fter which the lock nut 52 is again turned to the position in which it is shown in full-lines in Figure 5, to prevent accidental operation of the valve 29; This havingbeen accomplished, flushing of the system by means of water under city pressure ceases. If now the valve 42-;of the draw offfaucet 21 be moved toopen position, pressure in the keg or container willforce the water backwardly through the system carrying with it the mechanical cleaning element 8'!) to its position within. the fitting 32 -where it was trapped. By reason; of the construction of the fitting 32,- the Water in the system. between the fitting 32 and the tap rod 34 passes around the cleaning element BB -in. its trapped position in the fitting 32, through the draw off tank 24, pipe 9| and the draw. offlfauceti'! until all of the waterhas been removed from the system. From the foregoing, it will be apparent that after the aforedescribed cycle of operation has been completed, the system hasqbeen thoroughly. cleansed and that such cleaning of the system may be accomplished after the..contents of. each. keg. or container have been dispensed. 1

It-;will be.obviousgthatgthe systemafter the cleaningoperation heretofore described will. contain. a. quantity. of air or. gas and. the operation of tapping anew .keg 0r container will now be deib gr The tap rod is placed, in the keg or container in the conventional manner andconnected to the system. I After this has been accomplished, the taprbd is e me ifiihe sual-manne pe i n the betie r age to pass through the tap rod into the systemi. At this stagefthe attendant byturning thefplug'liof the bleed valveltwhich permits of the .air orgas'under pressure beingbled from the system, and a I freejmovement of the beverage therethrough under. pressure present in the keg or fcontainer. In addition to the function just describedftnebleed valve 13 also permits of. the discharge of'any foam that may be created. in the draw off tank 2 iby reason ofthe, flowing of thebeverage thereto underv pressure. The foam emits from the passage 2'] in the form of small I bubbles an when the foamhas been completely discharged from the draw ofi tank 24 the fact will be evidenced. by the emission of a fine stream of clear beverage from the bleed valve 13.' This conditionindicates that air or gas and foam have been drawn from the system and the bleed valve 13-isthen closed After the above described operations have been completed,.- the entire system has been filled with fresh beverage and the first beverage dis charged upon. operation of thedraw off .valve 21 is in. perfect-condition; In Figures 6 and 17*there has been. illustrated 1 a slightly. modified. fornroi invention inwhicha.

. coil" I601: has been. substitutedior theadraw. oi. tankldiinlthe. heretotore adescribediorm of. the

invention. One end. of the coil is connected to a fitting I 6;! iwhichiin. turn. is .connectedrtothe pipe. I02 which-leads.tothendrawi oft faucet not herein illustrated (but; which .is .of the: same typesas.

heretofore described The .other leg-of. the. coil I00 is connectedhtoa. fittingil (itsw-hich. insturn is connectedto the;fitting. 32rheretofore described. Except for the. described parts, thisform of the invention is.thesarneasheretofore described in that. thefit-ting 32 forms. a trap for the. me-

chanicall cleaning. element 8.0 which passes. through the line l 82' andtherefrigerating coil 3ii= While as. above; stated: thishmodifiedxsystem. differs only in the substitution.- of the drawoil or eXpansioncoil-Jllllfor the draw off. tank. 24;. itsoperation is slightly different and this differ.- ence will. now bedescribed. I I

Whenthe system is full. of beverage, the.

beverage is .drawnin the same-manneras heretofore. described by operation. of the. valve. lever 53. After the keg or container has been emptied,. the heretofore described operation to subject the system to the actionof water under city pres.-

sure. is carried out'and said water. passing.

through. the. coil. WB WlH force-the mechanical cleaning element; through the refrigerating.v

plished by an openingof the drawpiffaucet. 2l,;

itbeing understood of,course that,;the valve, 48 of the water system has been previously closed,

which. action. permits of the beverage. under pressure. operatin to force the; mechanical cleaning elementfiilrfrom its position. in the fitting33 through the refrigerating coil= 3Uto: its

trapped positionvin the fitting 32, forcing-the -water. in the refrigerating, coil 38 and the remainder of the, system between the keg or con tainer and the fitting 32-ahead of-the ,me-

chanical cleanin element. Fromthe fitting-312 the beverage forces the water from thefitting m3 through the coil Hi0, fitting llll; and pipe mg; and upon complete discharge of the .water from the draw ofi faucet, the beverage will begin to;

discharge imperfect condition from the draw 01? faucet.

Inthat form oftheinvention shown in Figures 1 8 and 9,.the fitting f32 ,is dispensed with and. a.

fitting I t9. comprising an. elbow I I it .which a may be connected .eitherto the draw-.cff tanki or the [draw off, and, expansion coil I09 .by a pipe. .section I I L,

The fitting 1 Hllhas. ap e H2 terminatingin a flared portion H3 thelarger end of which is closed by a screenor similar baffie H4. A nipple H5 is threaded upon the end of the elbow H0 and. by means of a couplingllfi, the nipple H5" is attached to the upper end of the refrigerating coil 30.; In this form of the invention, the fitting 33'heretofore referred to is' employed for attaching the oppcsite endof the coil to the tapwod 34a In this latter described form of the invention, the mechanical cleaning element includes a plurality of relatively small hard crystal like elements Ill combined with the soft pliable porous mechanical cleaning element 80 heretofore described. The crystals are movable through the system between the fitting I09 and the fitting 33 which of course includes the refrigerating coil 30.

The crystals H'I move independently of each other at random and said crystals individually and as a group are movable at random relatively to the mechanical cleaning element 80 which is also movable at random relatively to the crystals.

In this form of the invention, the cleaning of the system is the same as that described for the first described modified form of the invention. That is, there is no bleed valve for bleeding the system of air or gas, the beverage under pressure in the keg or container acting directly through the tap rod 34 and the refrigerating coil to move the mechanical cleaning elements through the system from the fitting 33 to the fitting I02 after the mechanical cleaning elements have been forced from the fitting I09 to the fitting 33 by means of water under city pressure .to effect a cleaning of the system in the heretofore described manner.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present invention provides a new and improved apparatus and method of operating beverage dispensing systems, and one which permits of a thorough cleansing of the system by the attendant after the contents of each keg or container has been dispensed, if so desired.

The invention has been herein illustrated and described in its preferred forms. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific details of construction herein illustrated and that it may be practiced in various other forms which rightfully fall within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In apparatus for dispensing beverages under pressure, in combination, a source of beverage supply, a dispensing unit, a system of piping connecting the source of beverage supply with the dispensing unit, a mechanical cleaning unit permanently retained within and movable through the piping system in one direction under the influence of said beverage under pressure therein and separate means for moving the mechanical cleaning unit through the system in the opposite direction.

2. In apparatus for dispensing beverages under pressure, in combination, a source of beverage supply, a dispensing unit, a system of piping connecting the source of beverage supply with the dispensing unit, a mechanical cleaning unit permanently retained within and movable through the piping system in one direction under the influence of said beverage under pressure in the system, means for trapping the cleaning unit at a point between the source of supply of said beverage under pressure and the dispensing unit, and means independent of the beverage under pressure for moving the cleaning unit through the system in the opposite direction.

3. In apparatus for dispensing beverages under pressure, in combination, a source of beverage supply, a dispensing unit, a system of piping connecting the source of beverage supply with the dispensing unit, a mechanical cleaning unit permanently retained within and movable through the piping system in opposite directions under the influence of fluid under pressure in the system, and means for trapping the cleaning unit at a point between the source of supply and the dispensing unit and for permitting of the flow of liquid through the piping system in either direction around the mechanical cleaning unit regardless of the direction of flow of fluid under pressure through the system.

4. In apparatus for dispensing beverages under pressure, in combination, a source of supply of beverage under pressure, a dispensing unit, a system of piping connecting the source of beverage supply with the dispensing unit, a mechanical cleaning element permanently retained within and movable in one direction through the system under the influence of the beverage under pressure in the system, means for trapping the mechanical cleaning element at a point between the source of beverage supply and the dispensing unit and separate means for moving the cleaning unit through the system in the opposite direction.

5. In apparatus for dispensing beverages under pressure, in combination, a source of supply of beverage under pressure, a dispensing unit, a system of piping connecting the source of beverage supply with the dispensing unit, a mechanical cleaning element movable through the piping system in one direction by the beverage under pressure at the source of supply, means for introducing water under pressure to the piping system, for moving the cleaning element in the opposite direction and means for limiting the movement of the mechanical cleaning element in the piping system without preventing the flow of beverage or water therethrough.

6. In apparatus of the type described in combination, a source of supply of beverage under pressure, a dispensing unit, a. pipe line for connecting the source of beverage supply with the dispensing unit, a mechanical cleaning element confined within said pipe line and normally inactive therein during the passage of beverage therethrough, and means for passing water from the dispensing unit through the pipe line in the direction of the source of beverage supply after the beverage supply has been exhausted for moving said mechanical cleaning element through the pipe line to effect a cleaning thereof.

7. In apparatus for dispensing beverages under pressure, in combination, a source of beverage supply, a dispensing unit, a system of piping connecting the source of beverage supply with the dispensing unit, a mechanical cleaning unit movable through said piping system in one direction by the passage of beverage under pressure therethrough, and in the opposite direction by a fluid introduced under pressure in a direction opposite to the direction of flow of the beverage under pressure, means included in the piping system for preventing exit of the cleaning unit therefrom under the influence of the beverage under pressure and to permit of the flow of beverage around the cleaning unit, and means included in the piping system for preventing exit of the cleaning unit therefrom under the influence of the fiuid introduced into the piping in a direction opposite to the direction of flow of the beverage under pressure and to permit of the flow of said fluid.

8. In apparatus for dispensing beverages under pressure, in combination, ascurce of beverage supply, a dispensing unit, a system of piping connecting the source of beverage supply with the dispensing unit, a mechanical cleaning unit per- I tem under pressure in a direction opposite to that of the flow of beverage under pressure for moving the cleaning unit through the piping system, and means for introducing said second men- 5 tioned fluid to the system.

FRED F. DAVIS. 

